13.12.10

HIGGINS COMPLETES FAIRYTALE COMEBACK

What a night, what a match and what a great player John Higgins has once again proved himself to be.

His recovery from 9-5 down to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the final of the 12bet.com UK Championship completes his own miracle of Christmas.

The worst year of his life has ended with one of his greatest ever victories.

I thought early on today he looked nervous, almost as if he was trying too hard. His father, gravely ill with cancer, could not be with him in Telford and Higgins knew what eventual victory would mean to the man who first got him into snooker at the age of nine.

This looked unlikely when Williams held a four frame advantage, needing just one for victory, but Higgins dug deeper than perhaps anyone has ever dug in a major final and somehow got over the winning line.

You could see at the end what it meant to him and his family. An unbelievable return from the wilderness and proof that, despite the constant conjecture about events earlier this year, his status as one of the all time greats is not in doubt.

Credit as well to Williams, too, for the way he battled all through the tournament and in particular for his deadpan response to defeat. He was as gracious as Higgins was dignified.

These two can stand in the pantheon of legends alongside Hendry and Davis, O'Sullivan and Reardon, the other Higgins too.

The climax proved that big time snooker can still deliver great drama: without the gimmickry of shot clocks, music and all the other peripheral stuff.

51 comments:

Colin M
said...

A major ranking snooker final just does not get any better than this!! I wanted see Mark lift the trophy and thought he would right up until that pink went safe in the final frame!

This was an amazing comeback by John who, on reflection, produced the best snooker throughout this tournament. The amount of natural talent this man possesses is quite staggering. There aren't the superlatives to describe it. To not play snooker at all for 6 months when under a career-threatening cloud and yet to be able to produce that standard when it really really matters, is simply breathtaking, nay, top drawer!!

Mark really impressed me in the final. He's back to almost his very best. Perhaps he was lacking recent experience of the business end of a major tournament. I genuinely think he would have beaten any other pro on the circuit today and was magnanimous in defeat. He deserves a keg of Boddingtons after that performance!

I hope that these two players meet again in the WCs in a 4 session match.

Some closing thoughts:

Murphy was unlucky to not be in the final. He must be close to winning a major again.

I was pleased to see that Stephen Lee has resurrected his game quite considerably. A pot success rate of 96% would beat most people in the world. Hard luck to be facing J. Higgins!

Lastly, it was great to see Jimmy White back on our screens. He was up against his old nemesis Hendry. Jimmy looked the better player in the latter stages but failed to kill the match off when he had chances to do so. Hendry produced a typically brilliant final frame to thwart the 'Wind...AGAIN. ARGGHHH. Jimmy's tactical game needs to improve marginally and I think he'd benefit from some intensive practice sessions with the Nugget (I volunteer to pick the balls out...).

Right..where's the wet towel...i'm off for a lie down after all that excitement!

Probably a few too many easy misses (Higgins in the first session, Williams in the second) to go down as an all-time classic, but certainly one of the most thrilling matches of the last few years—probably since the 2006 Masters on UK soil. Both players really needed it badly to re-establish themselves as major tournament winners. Williams came within a whisker of winning it though, and on the previous occasions he did he carried the form into the world championship...

As for Higgins, out for 12 ranking events in which he loses the number 1 spot, and then in just three events recaptures it! It kind of looks like Robertson was just keeping the throne warm...It's been the pattern since 2006/07 though: everytime a younger player looks like breaking through to the top, either O'Sullivan or Higgins smack them back down. I wonder how long that pattern can go on for?

When you add up all the different factors, how many better major finals have there ever been?

Perhaps a couple of world final cliffhangers, maybe the 83 and 90 UK finals, arguably the Masters final of 06, and that's about it.

I hope whoever makes the decisions in BBC is aware of what a spectacle it all was, and remembers it for a long time.

I also hope it will end the tiresome "debate" about meaningless gimmicks like Power Snooker. The game itself doesn't need changing and never has.

All it's ever needed are changes in how it's run, how it's marketed, and how it's all presented to the viewing public.

The past 12 months have seen a positive start in that direction, and now with this outstanding UK final as the last televised match of 2010, it all means this has been snooker's most encouraging and positive year in a long, long time.

The ban was just what Higgins needed. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on to dominate the game for the next 2 or 3 years. When focused he is galaxies away from the rest of the players. In fact Mark never looked like winning this one. He was close to win it but it was obvious that he would miss the crucial pots or run out of position on the frame ball. The pressure Higgins put up was far too much for anyone. So it's a great achievement for Mark to win 3 in the evening session. Most other players would have been whitewashed.

Longest gaps for players between their 1st major title and most recent.

Grand Prix isn't a major. Longest gap between first and last major is Davis with 16 years. Largest gap between first and last ranker is Hendry with 17 years. O'Sullivan has a chance to break both those records by winning the world championship this season.

In response to earlier comments, this is the list of longest gaps between first and last major ranking titles:

1. Jimmy White (18 years, 90 days - 12 Jan 86 to 11 Apr 04)

2. Stephen Hendry (17 years, 104 days - 25 Oct 87 to 6 Feb 05)

3. John Higgins (16 years, 50 days - 23 Oct 94 to 12 Dec 10)

4. Ronnie O'Sullivan (15 years, 286 days - 28 Nov 93 to 13 Sep 09)

5. Peter Ebdon (15 years, 156 days - 31 Oct 93 to 5 Apr 09)

6. Mark Williams (14 years, 67 days - 27 Jan 96 to 4 Apr 10)

7. Steve Davis (13 years, 284 days - 20 Apr 81 to 29 Jan 95)

8. Ken Doherty (13 years, 5 days - 31 Jan 93 to 5 Feb 06)

Higgins was fifth on this list until he overtook O'Sullivan and Ebdon last night. Of course if we were to get into gaps between first and last major titles, Davis would gain more than 2 years because of the 1997 Masters.

But then White would gain a few years as well for the 1984 Masters, and that would lead to the question of whether he should also gain a couple more for the 1981 Scottish Masters.

That in turn would lead to someone saying that definitely didn't count, someone else saying it definitely didn't, and nobody being right or wrong because it's a matter for debate.

But you know where you are when you just deal in major ranking events.

ha ha ha i posted a comment from a snooker fan of 30 years earlier & mr hendon you did not publish it.The game is now trully corrupt & i bet higgins is giving you back handers.regards dave guise worcester ex snooker fan.John Higgins should of had a 5 year ban

I found the semi and final very exciting to watch, however, I can't fully agree with all the gushing plaudits for Higgins. Of course it was a great on-table performance. But even though he was cleared of the serious match-fixing allegations, he was still guilty of not reporting it and was banned for 6 months! He is not squeaky clean so I don't hold with the 'what a saint he is' comments. Giving us a great tournament ws the VERY LEAST he could do to make up for the negative headlines his lack of common sense created since May.

To those with problems publishing comments:9 out of 10 times I have to press publish twice. The first time it jumps to the top without the pending approval message. Then I go back down and press again and it gives me the correct message.

It always works the second time but why it has to be so, I haven't got a clue. I too thought I was being censored which of course wasn't the case.

can someone please explain to me why higgins was not banned for 5 years.Especially when he bet on himself to loose.This charge was dropped.That is a great example of corruption and the way bbc pundits are pampering him,anyone would of thought he`d been hit a truck!!!!!I look back at higgins`s games over the years & how are we to believe he did not back himself to loose.The ones who look innocent always think they can get away with it."IT`S EASY,YOU CAN JUST MISS,MISS,MISS!!!!"Everyone at Telford forgot this.I will never! I hope he get`s booed at the masters & get`s loads of stick because he can never be trusted. Dave Guise worcester Ex snooker fan

The allegation that he placed a bet on Shaun Murphy to win the 2009 world final was never proven.

However, this form of insurance betting is not uncommon. It's been going on for years. For instance, John Spencer was revealed to have done it. It doesn't mean the player is trying to lose, indeed Higgins won the final.

If john higgins was totally innocent of not betting on himself then why didn`t he start legal procedings against TNOTW ?? That is so strange.If someone made claims like that to me I would not take that.You have not answered the pampering issue mr h

Ha ha ha the bbc.I felt like they were treating his as a hero!.The world open was proof that a tornament can still be great without higgins.I would email the bbc but what would they do about it? NOTHING !!!! Pundits & Presenters get a good wage.Why would they risk upsetting the bbc?There is only one man who can save us !!!!!! THE VOICE OF SNOOKER MR CLIVE EVERTON.I miss he`s commentating & it is a shame the bbc is slowly pensioning him off because i do believe he`d be on my wavelength on this subject!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Dave guise worcester(ex snooker fan)

Considering that Dave saw enough of the World Open to assert that was "proof a tournament can still be great without Higgins", he must have still been a snooker fan three months ago.

As the only televised tournament since then has been last week's wonderful championship, and it's hard to imagine any fan being turned off the sport by that, I can't help wondering what it was that turned him into an ex snooker fan?

I'd be really interested in seeing your answer Dave. If nothing else, you can never see too many exclamation marks in one place.

What turned me off from being a snooker fan is that the sport had the chance of coming down hard on higgins & bottled it.You cannot trust him or the people involved in the running of the sport.they came down hard on hann but that did not stop higgins.If the right outcome was reached i would have faith but now i don`t.The uk was a great week but higgins should of been watching from his big house in bothwell & be a man & leave your name!!!!!!!!! dave guise worcester ex snooker fan

So if what turned you off being a snooker fan is that "the sport had the chance of coming down hard on Higgins and bottled it", why did you then watch the World Open a couple of weeks later? And how do you know the UK "was a great week" if you're not a snooker fan anymore?

I only watched the world open because the wanna be match fixer was not playing mr hendon.I was informed that stuff went on & how sad it was that people treated him so nice.Not 1 boo!!!You must be a bbc pundit commentater or his chuby wife!!!!!!!!!

Why oh why can't people just leave it alone. John Higgins was cleared of any match fixing, he recieved his ban and rightly so for not informing the WSA of the meeting in Kiev.However he has served his time and is now back playing.The man is a gent and hasn't a bad bone in his body and I for one am delighted to see him back playing again.All you begrudgers leave him and the game alone, for once it's heading in the right direction yet still some people want to keep dragging it back.